Lubricating means



- No\ r.15,193 8. ECR VEUNG 2,136,492

LUBRICATING MEANS Filed July 17, 1955 ENTOR'.

usually in the form of heavy oil Patented Nov. 15, 1938 2,136,492 H h LIJBBICATING MEANS L. Creveling, near Tucson, Ariz. Q Application my 17, 933, Serial No. 680,891

1 My invention pertains to that class of lubricating devices employed for forcing a, lubricant, or grease, through a fitting commonly known-as a nipple, connected by' a" port or duct with a part to be lubricated.

An object ofmy invention is to provide a novel, hand-operated, device for servicing sucn nipples, of the general type now known in the art as apush gun","including"a novel receptacle or cartridge forming a part of such device or other gun parts Another object of my invention is to provide such a gun with a nozzle which will be able to,

specification thereof.

gun which may also be used in connection with now known in the art.

forma tight contact joint with different types or nipples: now in use.- h

Other objects will be plain from the following and the drawing forming a part In the drawing,

; Fig. I isa partial elevation and partial section illustrating part of a gun, to here madefper se, combined with a receptacle comprehending an element of mypresent invention, said complete gun being shown as applied to a nipple to be serviced.

which no claim is I 1 Figs. 11 and IIIare sections of forms of gun q engagingk nipples (shown on enlarged scale);

, tridgesucomprehended by my Fig. IV is a fragmentarytopfplan of the cartridge-shown -in Figr'I. I I

FigJV is afragmentary section ofthe car which: may be usedto form parts of the carinvention.

tridge of Fig. I, showing we arrangement "of parts thereof on enlarged scale; i

h 1 Fig. VIis=a;*longitudinal section and partial elevation of one formof gun and cartridge com prehending my invention. 9 40 proved gun shown app ed to one form of nipple (shown inelevationinow inuse.

Fig. VIII isfa. section of fafdischarge nozzle now incommon use and awell-known type of nipple, intendediobe used therewith; shown in elevation;

my improved Fig. IX is a. section andp artial elevation-o t a embodying my invention is somewhat ,similar to Fig. VI.,

, Fig; X is a section ofthe discharge nozzle of gun, shown as in operative relation to the nipple of Fig. VIII,

Fig. X1 is partial section and partialelevationoithe cartridge of my present invention,

to be lubricated. Then, rod 5 in the reverse direction," asunder the in? 4 mass; (01. 221- 474) shown as cooperating with another-type of inventedby,me. h H

Figs'XII and XIII are sections illustrating modified forms of cartridges which include elements of my invention and which maybe used, with the other parts shown in Figs. I, VI, IX

Fig. XIV is a fragmentary section of a cartridge comprising an element of, my invention which maybe used with the other parts of Fig.1. Fig. XV is a partialsection and partial elevation of a form of nozzle and nipple now known in the art, showing the axis of the nozzle at an angleto that of the nipple.

Fig. XVI isa view similar to Fig. ,XV but showingthe axis of the nozzle in line with that of the nipple. h

In Fig. I, the gun illustrated comprises a nozzle portion I, shown applied to a ball type nipple 2, which is assumed tobeconnected with a part to be lubricated, in the usual manner. The barrel 3 of the gunis provided with a proper piston and a gland 4 through which the piston rod 5 passes, the arrangement being such that,,when the rod 5 is moved toward the nipple by means of the handle 6, a lubricant-tight contact will be maintained between nozzle, i and nipple 2 and lubricant contained in the barrel 3 will be ex pelled through nozzle and nipple 2 to the part movementof the piston fiuence of spring i, will cause a partial vacuum in thegun barrel which is connected with a port' (shown in dotted lines) passing through the "memberil, h'avingfa taperedshoulder, 25,

,as indicated. The, barrel portion 3, carries a flange 8, provided with a depending skirt pro,- vided gwithinwardly projecting lugs 9 having spaces therebetween to allow, the passage of the outwardly projectingbosses in (see also Fig. IV) of the cartridge. The upper faces of the lugs El are inclined so that after the bosseslli are engaged rotation of the cartridges with respect to the flange 8 will cause the parts to be drawn to gether so as to form a fluid-tight joint between the taperedportion :and the inturnedwall 23 of the cover I2 of thecartridge. The cartridge is provided with a bottom I4, formed with a flange 0r skirt 26 having a groove i5 therein whichmay be filled with cord or other suitable packing so that the bottom forms a fluid tight, though freelymoving, piston (see also Fig. V) which at the time the cartridge is filled is pressed down into thespace between the side wall i3 and theupturned lip Hi to form a tight joint. At or near the center of the bottom I4 there is an opening surrounded by the collar l1 into which is pressed a nipple ll having a nozzleengaging portion with a small opening therethrough, as indicated at 2|, which may be closed as by means of a small lump of soft solder, as indicated at 22. When the cartridge is filled at the factory, the cover or top l2 has the central opening therein closed by the disc 24, which may be part of the blank from which the cover is formed, and is preferably scored or weakened at its point of connection with the conical wall 23. Such cartridge may be readily filled before the nipple member II is pressed into place, and shipped and stored and sold as original packages" not easily refilled.

When a fresh cartridge is to be applied to the other parts of the device of Fig. I, the nozzle II,

which is provided with a shearing edge, is first pressed downwardly into the cover so as to cut away part of the disc 24 and bend it back out of the way, as shown. Then, when the cartridge isrevolved as above described, the gun is ready for use; and, as the lubricant is drawn up into the barrel 2, atmospheric pressure will cause the bottom l4 to move upwardly, in an obvious manner, until the grease is practically exhausted, when a fresh cartridge may be applied as before.

The gun shown in Fig. VI employs the same cartridge as that of Fig. I, though his applied diflerently to form a symmetrical device having certain advantages over the arrangement in Fig. I.

In the gun of Fig. VI, 21 represents the highpressure cylinder which may be formed of a piece of ordinary cold rolled tubing, and is shown as provided with a conical shoulder 28 against which is fastened a circular flange 8, which is similar to the like numbered flange in the device of Fig. I, and provided with parts adapted to engage the lugs l0, upon the cartridge, in the same manner as in the device of Fig. I, and cause a tight Joint between parts 22 and 22.

With the complete gun assembled, as shown in Fig. VI, and the cylinder 21 full of grease, if the nozzle I be placed upon a suitable nipple and the handle 29 pressed with suflicient force toward .the nippleyrod 30 will cause the plunger II to cover the inlet ports 32, and then further movement of the plunger ,will cause grease contained in the cylinder 21 to be expelled. past the valve 32, into the part to be lubricated. Then, if the pressure upon the handle 29 be relieved suinciently, spring 24 will cause the plunger to be returned to the position indicated in the drawing. This will cause a partial vacuum in the cylinder 21 and, as soon as the plunger 2| uncovers the ports 22, grease will be forced into the cylinder through said ports by the action of atmospheric pressure upon the movable end H of the cartridge which is free to move under atmospheric pressure while maintaining a fluidtight joint at its contact with the shell l3 and at the sliding contact between thecollar I1 and the outside of cylinder 21.

When the lubricant has all been used from the cartridge, it can be removed by merely giving it a slight rotary movement with respect to themember 8, so as to release the lugs 10, and then sliding it off the cylinder 21, in an obvious manner.

To apply a freshcartridge, one has merely to press the cutting edge of nipple I against the weakened portion of the disc 24 to cut out the said disc, and then the nozzle can be passed through the contents until'it strikes the member it (see Fig. I) which may thus be forced out to allow the cylinder 21 to pass through the opening defined by the collar i1. Then, if the cartridge has its bosses l0 placed in engaging relation to the lugs S and revolved, the cartridge will be held in place and a fluid-tight joint secured between parts 23 and 28, and the gun may be used as stated above.

The gun of Fig. IX is quite similar to that of Fig. VI, save that the cartridge is applied differently. With this structure, a fresh cartridge isapplied by using the cutting edge 35 of the nozzle as a tool to cut the edge of disc 24 at its connection with the tapered, depressed, portion 23; then the hand grip 36 is unscrewed from the piston rod 31 and removed with its attached spring 38 (the rod 31 being held from revolving by the screw 39 engaging the groove or key-way 40); then the rod 31 and cylinder 4| are passed through the cartridge and the bosses i0 engaged with the lugs 9, as shown in the drawing and described with respect to Figs. I and VI, the

plug i8 being removed by the rod 31 during this process. The operation of this type of gun is believedto be obvious from the stated operation of the structure of Fig. VI.

In Figs. I, VI and IX, the nozzle i may be of the type having a pocket. as shown at 42 in l Fig, XV, which has an annular contacting portion 43 of circular form, with a diameter slightlyv less than the diameter of the ball head of nipple 2, to permit application of the gun at an angle approximating 90 degrees, as shown in Fig. XV; or with the axes of the gun and nipple in line, as shown in Fig. XVI.

There are now in service a great number of nipples as shown in Fig. VIII at 44, which are adapted to be serviced by guns having nozzles as shown at 45 in this figure, and these nipples cannot be serviced by means of the guns having the usual nozzles as shown in Figs. XV and XVI, intended for use with ball type nipples; though it happens that the usual nozzles 45 of Fig.

VIII having a spherical pocket 46 of such radius that the guns intended for. use with. nipples 44 can be used to service the ball type fittings now in use, provided the axes of the guns be held nearly in line with the axes of the fittings.

In Fig. VII there is shown a nozzle 41, adapted to provide a fluid-tight contact with the ball type fitting 2, which fitting mayhold such contact throughout wide relative displacements, as shown in Figs. XV and XVI. The pocket 48 is, however, so formed as to be applicable to fittings of the type indicated in Fig. VIII, as shown in Fig. X, where it will be noted that the pocket 48 has a spherical portion 49, adapted to form a fluid-tight contact with nipple 44, throughout reasonable angular displacement of the axes of the nozzle and nipple.

In Fig. XI, I have shown a. very simple type of gun which comprises merely a cylinder 50, which may be a piece of ordinary tubing swaged into proper shape at one end to form a nipple-engaging nozzle, as indicated at 5|, and a plunger 52 having a rod 53 bent into the form of a hand grip 54. To use this arrangement, onehas merely to cut off the soft solder button 22 of Fig. I and apply the nozzle to the member l8, as shown in Fig. XI, and push upon the cylinder 50, as the pressure thus placed upon the piston cover l4 will cause the lubri cant in the cartridge to pass through the opento be serviced, and push upon the grip 54.

It is here to be noted that the plungers shown in Figs. I, VI. IX and XI, are preferably of such area that pressure upon the respective hand grips toward the nipple to be serviced will cause i a fluid-tight contact between the nozzle and nipple. I In Figs. II and III, I have shown diiferent types of nipples which may be used in place of that shown at ii in Fig.1; and, in Fig. II, the opening 2| is closed by a soft metal or solder disc 55 which may be punched in by means of an implement such as a nail; while in Fig. III the opening is closed by a tear strip" it which may be grasped and torn oif.

In Fig. XII there is shown another type of nipple 51 which is provided with a check valve which may be used if desired; while in this 111;-

ure the fixed cover is shown as provided with a central opening normally closed by a stopper II which may be pried out, instead of the disc arrangement shown in Figs. I, VI and IX.

In all of the above mentioned cartridges, one end closure member has been assumed to act as a follower, and this dual oflice requires a good sliding flt between the wall I3 and flange of the closure, which is more or less diflicult toobtain.

In Fig. XIII there is shown 'a cartridge provided with fixed closure 58 and a follower 80 I having a fairly good fit within the cartridge, such as can be obtained with dies. When thistype of cartridge is filled, it may be hermetically sealed, and the follower contact is not relied upon to prevent leakage during shipment or while carried in stock and'subiected to wide temperature changes causing the diiierence between inside and outside pressure to vary greatly. when a fresh cartridge of this type is to be applied to any of the gun parts here shown, the strip or cover portion Si is tom of! and then the cartridge may be manipulated as above pointed out, and there will be small tendency for lubricant to leak past the follower when not in use as the follower is then free to move and cause the pressure upon each side thereof to equalize.

This idea may, of course, be employed with cartridges for use with guns of the type shown in Fig. I only, and such a structure is indicated in Fig. XIV where the follower is not provided with the nipple l8 and merely a vent 62 is shown as normally closed by the "tear strip" 63.

I do not in any way limit myself to any of the exact constructions or details of operation here explained merely to point out embodiments of my invention, for it will be obvious that wide departure may be made in the way of apparatus and modes of operation without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention which is as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Lubricating means including a high pressure pump provided with means for engaging one end of a readily removable lubricant container of the interchangeable original package type having end closures, said parts being so constructed and arranged that the container may be engaged and disengaged without changing the operative relation of the elements of said pump with respectto each other, a container engaged and attached to the pump thereby and provided at its opposite end with movable means forming part thereof and throughout movement operatively engaging a portion of said pump to functionally affect the operations thereof.

2. Lubricating means including a pump, a cartridge of the interchangeable original package a type providing a reservoir therefor and having relatively movable perforated end closures through which said pump extends, and cartridge 3. Lubricating means of the push gun type wherein lubricant-expelling thrust causes an outlet to form a lubricant-tight joint with a nipple, including a nipple-engaging discharge outlet seat of circular section in a plane normal to the axis of said means and also a seat of circular section in a ditferent plane whereby diiferent nipples presenting difierent pressure reaction angles and areas may have circular contact therewith, and lubricant-expelling means producing sumcient expulsion thrust to cause a fluid-tight joint with each kind of said nipples in spite of any difference in lubricant pressure reaction upon said joint due to the difierence in kind of said nipples.

4. Lubricating means of the "push gun type wherein lubricant-expelling thrust causes an outlet to form a joint with a nipple including a nipple-engaging discharge outlet face at an acute angle to the axis of said means and the direction of thrust and having a circular nipple-engaging opening therein, and a spherical seat for engaging and forming a fluid-tight joint with non-spherical nipples reached through said opening and lubricant-expelling means producing sui'-- flcient expulsion thrust to cause a fluid-tight joint with each kind of said nipples in spite of any difference in lubricant pressure reaction upon said joint due to the difference in kind of said nipples.

JOHN L. CREVELING. 

